


Knights Errant

by amadeusofnohr



Series: FE Femslash Weeks 2018 [8]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Azura!Mitama, Canon Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Knight AU, Multi, POV Alternating, okay more like rivals but you know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-06-10 22:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15301896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amadeusofnohr/pseuds/amadeusofnohr
Summary: Caeldori and Sophie are both in training to become knights, and they get along like a house on fire. In an attempt to calm them down and teach them both important life lessons, Queen Corrin secretly assigns them both the same mission: rescue Princess Mitama from the castle she's imprisoned in.(AKA two rival knights save the same princess and then they all fall in love)(Written for FE Femslash Week, July Edition)





	1. Chivalry

Caeldori was breathing as quietly as she could, back pressed against a wall. She carefully peered downwards, sweat trickling precariously down her face. She didn’t dare reach up to wipe it away. The movement would surely alert her quarry. It had taken all her skill and wits to get into this position, but it was perfect. Her prey would not escape.

She was perched on the ribbed stone decorations that bordered the towering inside walls of an ancient stone castle, high above the tiled ground. Below her, curled up and unaware, slumbered a dragon. The carvings on the walls all around the room depicted the former residents of the castle fighting off a stylized dragon.

Ironically, the children of the very beast they had killed had returned and reclaimed its ancestral home. The place had been abandoned for decades as a result. Living with dragons wasn’t known for being easy.

The carvings were dusty and aged, but still sturdy, and were excellent footholds. Attacking a dragon head-on was a fool’s move, but from this position she would easily be able to get the drop on the creature. Its weak point, right behind the spikes on its giant head, was normally protected during rest by virtue of being nestled between the dragon’s body, with its neck facing outwards to protect the delicate face. Crawling over the neck or torso to reach the head would just wake up the dragon, but there was nothing stopping her from jumping directly to where she wanted to be.

She tightened her grip on her naginata, mouth quirking up just a little. This would be yet another tally in favor of her becoming an official knight of Valla.

She put her weight on her back foot, ready to launch herself downwards. Just as she pushed off, the doors to the dragon’s chamber slammed open, and something metal clattered to the ground.

“Avel! That was rude!” Came the muffled cry from the intruder. The dragon’s eyes snapped open. “Ah, rats. Well, here goes nothing. Hyah!”

Water sloshed over the dragon’s face. It jerked its head up, nostrils flaring in annoyance. And then it’s eyes caught on Caeldori’s falling figure. She swore the thing smirked. It licked its lip and opened its massive, massive mouth in anticipation. Caeldori cursed, twisting in the air in a vain attempt to readjust her trajectory. She was about to become this thing’s next meal.

“Don’t forget about me!”

Another wave of water splashed onto the dragon. It turned on its other attacker, shaking its head and hissing. Water droplets scattered onto the ground.

Caeldori crashed into the dragon’s neck, wincing in pain as her face scraped against its rough hide. She clawed at its scales with her free hand, seeking a grip before she could slide off and became easy pickings. It was quite difficult, on account of the water that _someone_ had decided to toss everywhere.

The dragon roared unhappily, trying to shake her off even as it snapped at its other foe, who was waving a sword at its snout. Caeldori had the sudden urge to rub her temples as her suspicions for the identity of the assailant was confirmed.

“Sophie! Stop that!” she shouted, agitated. The other girl was only riling the beast up. Neither of them had achieved full knight status, and even if they were, the dragon would still be too strong for them to fight like this.

“I’m distracting it!” Sophie called back, parrying away a bite from the dragon with the flat of her blade. “So that you can finish it off!”

That would be impossible from this angle. Caeldori sighed.

Sophie attempted another strike, but the dragon had had enough. It caught her sword in its mouth and it _crunched_. The blade crumbled away, leaving only the hilt behind. Sophie stared at it, mouth gaping.

“I, uh, I’m just going to be right back.”

She had a good idea for once, and turned to run back out the castle doors. Caeldori would be proud if she wasn’t quite so exasperated.

Sophie promptly slipped on a puddle of water.

Caeldori sprung into action, jabbing the butt of her naginata into the dragon’s neck for leverage as she pushed off. She flipped over its head and hit the ground rolling. It had taken hours of practice to perfect the maneuver with her bulky naginata in hand, but it was well worth it.

She came out of the roll with one knee on the ground, right in front of Sophie, naginata out to guard against the dragon. The metal creaked from the pressure of the beast’s strength, and her arms were shaking with the effort of holding it back.

It backed off, snarling, as the two scrambled to their feet, only to open its mouth and spew fire at them. That meant it was seriously annoyed, which didn’t bode well for their continued survival. Caeldori dove to the right to avoid the fire, while Sophie went left. The heat made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. No, this wasn’t good at all. She wouldn’t be killing this dragon today.

She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled, high and short, three times.

The dragon turned on her, exhaling another stream of flames. She whirled her naginata around in a circle, the air dispersing the fire before it could hit her. Her fingers still felt rather singed, so she dodged the next attack. The dragon was getting a feel for her movements, and she had to throw herself backwards with a moment’s notice when the dragon put fire directly in her path.

Then the ceiling shattered above them. Stained glass rained down in shards. The dragon flapped its wings angrily, its precious castle harmed. A shadow swooped down with a loud whinny, hooves clattering on tile as it landed beside her.

Caeldori gave Aurora a pat on the neck as she seamlessly swung herself into her saddle. The pegasus took to the air immediately, narrowly avoiding the rage of the dragon. She twisted the reins to the right, and Aurora gamely turned at an impossibly sharp angle. The dragon followed, whirling around. It uncurled its wings.

Sophie was smart enough to be out of the dragon’s line of sight. Aurora performed a series of zigzags, ending with a loop that took them right over the dragon’s head. The dragon failed in its attempt to lunge forward and snap the pegasus and rider up whole, and instead slammed its head into the wall of the castle. The stone shuddered, and more glass fell from above.

Caeldori slotted her naginata into its sheath on the side of Aurora’s saddle with one hand, taking the reins only with the other. She clamped her legs tight around Aurora, and as they passed over Sophie’s head she leaned sideways, holding out her free hand.

Sophie caught on fast, jumping up and catching it. Caeldori grunted with effort as she pulled Sophie up. The other girl settled awkwardly on top of the back of the saddle, arms squeezing tight around Caeldori’s torso.

“I-I’ve never flown before!” Sophie screamed, right into her ear.

“Just hold. Preferably a little less tightly,” Caeldori ground out, keeping an eye on the dragon below as the went upward. Aurora was more sluggish than usual, unused to the extra weight. She was still young, and her muscles weren’t developed enough to safely carry two people.

Just as they were exiting through the hole Aurora had already made, the dragon took one last potshot at them. The fire singed one of Aurora’s wings badly, and the heat threw her off balance. They went spiraling over the edge of the roof, rocketing towards the ground at an alarming rate. Thankfully, the dragon wasn’t going to leave its chamber.

If Sophie squeezed any tighter, Caeldori’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“We’re jumping off,” she announced grimly. “Aurora can’t land safely like this.” It would be a miracle if Aurora landed safely at all, actually. Her wing was still smoldering.

“O-on your mark, captain!” Sophie agreed shrilly, clearly still terrified. This was why training with a pegasus should be mandatory. Squires and knights alike who insisted on only riding horses were foolish.

Caeldori waited as long as she dared, aiming for the perfect time that would ensure no harm to pegasus or riders as they landed.

“Now!”

Sophie shut her eyes and jumped. Caeldori followed suit. They hadn’t been as close to the ground as she had thought they were, and she was definitely going to be bruised tomorrow. But for now, they were all safe. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aurora skid into the dirt, rolling onto her back to put her wing out. All settled. Onto the next problem.

“What on earth was that!” she demanded, whirling to face Sophie, who had flopped onto her back on the ground. “I was about to finish that thing off! You’re not even supposed to be here right now.”

Sophie frowned, pushing herself up onto her elbows.

“I was just trying to help! And you don’t know that. Knights are supposed to help each other out, aren’t they?”

Caeldori was unimpressed.

“ _Knights_ are. Knight _trainees_ have a variety of tasks assigned to them. Squires named Sophie have stable cleaning duty today. A squire named Caeldori was the one who put together this month’s chore rotation.” Sophie threw her hands up.

“Stable cleaning is boring! How was I supposed to just sit there mucking stalls when I knew you were out here slaying dragons? Real knights don’t sit around doing chores all day. I’ll never be one if I don’t do anything dangerous.” Caeldori pinned her with an unflinching stare.

“You’ll never be one if you can’t follow orders, either. And _I’ll_ never be one if certain people keep ruining my missions.”

“It’s not even my fault,” Sophie whined. “Avel ruined it by bucking me off before I was ready.”

“It _is_ your fault. Maybe if you spent more time learning to control your mount you could be a knight already.” It was harsh, but it was a well-known fact in the squire circles that half of Sophie’s famed clumsiness was due to her horse. Why she insisted on continuing to ride him was anybody’s guess.

Sophie’s face fell. She stood up, dusting herself off.

“Maybe if you didn’t stick your nose in everybody’s business, you could be a knight by now, too, little Miss Perfectionist.” she moved past Caeldori, shoulder knocking into hers. “I’m going to find Avel. See you later.”

Caeldori huffed. It was just as common in squire circles to accuse her of micromanaging everyone else’s lives. But that was just unfounded. She was just helping. She had memorized every textbook available, studied every scroll, every combat form. It was only natural that she took charge. She wasn’t anywhere near her father’s level, though, which was the real reason she hadn’t been promoted yet.

Queen Corrin had fought in wars alongside Sir Subaki, so of course her standards for his daughter were high. The same could be said of Sophie. Sir Silas was a famous general, even now, but she never seemed bothered by the fact that she was nothing like him. It made no sense.

Caeldori walked to her pegasus, checking her over for injuries. Her wing wouldn’t be flight-ready anytime soon, so she resigned herself to returning to the palace on foot.

It was a long, quiet trek.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“I apologize for my failure.” Caeldori was on her knees, head bowed, the standard position for delivering a mission report.

Queen Corrin looked pensive, staring down at Caeldori from her throne.

“It’s not a big loss. We’ll just send out a knight or two in a few weeks’ time, once the dragon’s calmed back down.”

Queen Corrin was truly too forgiving.

“In the meantime, I have another assignment for you.”

Caeldori perked up immediately, relieved that Lady Corrin still had trust in her. But…

“I would be honored, milady, but my pegasus won’t be ready to fly out for at least another month.” The Queen waved a hand dismissively.

“This isn’t time sensitive. It can be completed on hoof. I’m sure Aurora would prefer healing in fresh air to being cooped up in the stables.”

Caeldori reluctantly acknowledged the point.

“Now, you’ve heard of King Azama, correct?” Caeldori nodded. He was a priest first and “king” only in title, from a now defunct marriage to Lady Azura. He lived in a small castle in a small territory composed mainly of shrines and temples. “Well, he’s recently sent his daughter off to some gods-forsaken little castle in the middle of nowhere, complete with a dragon guard. I want you to go free her, and escort her back to her father’s castle.”

It was a rather old-fashioned practice to send princesses off to isolated castles, and Queen Corrin was anything but traditional, so it made sense that she was annoyed. She did, officially, have authority over Azama, but he had presumably brushed off any requests sent his way. He wasn’t known for his charming personality.

“Of course, milady. When should I head out?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll send a map and an official seal your way this evening.” She dismissed her after that, and Caeldori made a beeline for the barrack’s showers. She was covered in filth. And after that, she would need to wash her field clothes and polish her armor, not to mention cleaning Aurora’s tack. She would also need to rearrange the chore rotation to account for her absence, and assign someone else to take charge of it if she didn’t return within the month. So much to do…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Queen Corrin watched Caeldori thoughtfully as she left. She could have made Azama bring his daughter back, if she really wanted to. All she would have to do was tell Azura what he’d done, and he’d get an earful from her before she dragged her daughter back herself. But that wouldn’t actually solve the problem, which was that Azama was dreadfully overprotective. She couldn’t imagine Mitama having a life full of friends her own age.

She was a lot like Caeldori in that sense. The girl was wonderfully efficient squire, and could probably run the kingdom better than Corrin did if she set her mind to it. But her training didn’t leave much time for socializing. The only person she talked to regularly besides her father was Sophie, but even Corrin had been privy to some of their arguments, the two too busy arguing to notice the presence of the queen.

Speak of the devil. The doors to the throne-room burst open, revealing a haggard looking Sophie.

“Queen Corrin,” she began quietly, looking down, unwilling to meet Corrin’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m a disgrace to knights everywhere.”

Her sad demeanor made Corrin’s heart ache. There was more to life than being a knight. Her presence gave Corrin an idea.

“What’s youth without impulsive decisions?” she said, smiling. “Don’t you worry about that dragon. I have a different mission for you, one I think you’ll do well on.”

It was the right of a queen to meddle. The more the merrier, right?


	2. Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie hits the road. Caeldori hits Sophie. It's only downhill from there.

The next morning, Sophie was so excited that she was practically skipping her way into the stables. Not only was Queen Corrin not even mad at her, she trusted her enough to give her a special mission! It was her chance to make up for yesterday’s disaster. She knew there were no shortcuts to becoming a knight, but she hadn’t been looking for one! She had just wanted to show what she was capable of.

Which, as it turned out, hadn’t been much. But that was yesterday. This was a new day, a new mission, a new chance to prove her merit!

“You’ll be good for me this time, won’t you Avel?” She cooed, feeding said horse an apple, as a kind-hearted gift for her favorite steed, definitely not as a bribe for good behavior. It had taken many trials full of blood and tears for her to realize that apples, and only apples, and only a specific type of apple, would satisfy Avel. Not usually for very long, but she could hope.

Daddy said Avel was just very spirited, just like her. That didn’t make him any less frustrating to handle. But Daddy had picked him out specially for her, so she couldn’t just switch horses. They’d been through too much together, and it’d be ungrateful.

She checked back over the gear strapped to Avel one last time. There were a few scattered towns along the route she was planning on taking, but she wasn’t sure what kind of supplies they would have, or at what prices. None were close to the main road she wanted to use, and while Queen Corrin hadn’t specified a time-frame, sooner was always better.

“Alright! We’ll impress Queen Corrin this time for sure!”

Avel neighed gamely in response, and Sophie gave him one last loving pat before putting one foot into a stirrup and swinging herself onto his back. The stables were quiet as they left, since it was a tad too early for anyone else to be awake. She couldn’t help waking up early. It was a miracle she had even gotten to sleep in the first place.

To her surprise, there was noise coming from one of the training fields. Her mission could wait just a little bit, surely, and Sophie would fully admit to being more than a little nosy. She slid off Avel, quickly tying his reins to a post alongside the main path out of the palace grounds.

It was Caeldori, moving through a convoluted set of poses and moves with her naginata. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and for a moment, Sophie almost thought it was Sir Subaki himself in the training field. They had the same tall form, the same lean muscle, and the same fluid movements with their weapons. Sir Subaki had put on many a demonstration for the squires, and Caeldori’s form was just as flawless as his.

Sophie went back to Avel before she could be noticed. It wasn’t like she never practiced either, but she’d probably never be that good with her sword. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She untied Avel and readjusted the reins, and they were on their way once again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was only midafternoon of her first day on the road, and there was already trouble. It wasn’t even her fault (or Avel’s!) this time. If anything, it was on Queen Corrin for not doing a better job of ridding bandits from the kingdom. They were far enough from the palace to avoid knights and their patrols, but close enough and on the right roads to spy any rich visitors coming to and from the palace. They had apparently decided Sophie looked like an easy target. They were mostly wrong.

She was a good fighter, she really was! But even her father would’ve been hard-pressed when fighting alone against a dozen or so ruffians.

Avel had been instructed to flee with her goods, and he had listened for once. She was doing her best to prevent him from being followed, and also doing her best to stay alive. She had gotten a replacement sword after the _incident_ with her last one, but it wasn’t quite the same, and the difference was going to get her stabbed.

She repelled two blades, and ducked another, kicking out to knock one bandit to the ground. They had terrible group cohesion, but numbers could make up for a lot.

“Surrender or die!” They shouted at her.

They weren’t the most creative bandits. It would be really embarrassing to go out like this.

She upped her game, allowing herself to use lethal attacks. It was bad form to just leave corpses lying around for any poor traveler to stumble upon, but you had to do what you had to do.

Three fell in the wake of her sudden viciousness, and the others become a lot more cautious. But she was starting to get tired now. Fights were only supposed to last so long, and stamina-wise, having numbers meant they had her beat. She’d have to finish this fast. She eyed the beefiest looking one. Probably the leader. Hopefully, if he fell, the others would scatter. She readied her sword, and prepared to lunge.

“Incoming!” Came a voice from out of nowhere.

Sophie cursed.

“Watch out!” She was already in motion, and her “savior” had decided to attack the same bandit as she had. She managed to twist the blade of her sword, slamming the flat of her blade into the newcomer. She went sprawling onto the ground.

“I was helping!” Caeldori growled, whirling her naginata as she got to her feet, bowling over the two bandits that had turned on her.

“I know! That wasn’t my fault! Assess the situation better, why don’t you?”

There had been teamwork drills aplenty during training camps, but Sophie had purposefully avoided partnering with Caeldori for them. She got nagged enough without willingly spending time with her.

As a result, the next time Caeldori decided to spin her naginata, Sophie was unprepared, and it was her turn to go sprawling into the dirt. She landed on her back, and quickly rolled to the left to avoid the axe that came swinging down at her head.

She got smacked three more times before the fight was over, and she had tripped over Caeldori twice.

“Thanks,” she said, dryly, rubbing the back of her head with a wince. Caeldori huffed, looking over the fallen bodies with distaste. She was wearing different clothes than she had been this morning, and now her hair was down, contained only loosely by the winged headband she always wore. Sophie didn’t know how she did it. She had enough trouble with her hair this short; she couldn’t imagine it being longer.

“You should be more careful.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “I’ll just magically avoid the ambush next time.”

Caeldori looked shocked.

“I assumed Avel provoked them.” she admitted.

“Well, you were wrong, so there.” Sophie resisted the urge to stick her tongue out. It would have been too childish, even for her.

Caeldori whistled, and her pegasus came trotting out from the woods. One of her wings was bandaged, and she looked to be carrying a pack similar to Avel’s.

“Are you ditching stable duty to camp in the woods?” Sophie asked gleefully. Finally, something to hold over _her_ head!

Caeldori looked affronted. “Of course not! I was assigned a mission by Queen Corrin.” Sophie deflated.

“I was, too, so I better be on my way.” Avel wouldn’t come if she whistled, but he could only be so far ahead of them. The longer she took to catch up the higher the chance that he’d lose interest in behaving and decide to wander off. She turned to go, only to be stopped by a hand on her arm.

“Common sense dictates that if there’s bandits running amok, travelers should stick together.” Caeldori didn’t look happy about it, which was unfair. Sophie could be civil! Sophie was a delight to be around! It was Caeldori who was always stuffy and boring. And Caeldori who was inarguably the better squire. She reluctantly admitted to herself that traveling with Caeldori would surely be a learning experience.

“Fine with me. Just watch where you swing that thing next time, alright?” Sophie replied, eyeing Caeldori’s naginata warily.

“Or you could just be more cautious. I’m not the only squire out there who wields a naginata, and plenty of others have lances. A sword of your length works quite well alongside the reach of the naginata and lance, so it would serve you well to brush up on your teamwork. I—"

“If you’re just going to nag at me the whole time, I think I’d rather deal with bandits.” Sophie had been through plenty of teamwork drills. She didn’t need a lecture. Caeldori glared, emanating an aura of disapproval.

“I shall watch my tongue, then.” She said icily. “I’ll save my advice for those who actually want to improve themselves.”

Sophie huffed in frustration.

“I appreciate the thought, I guess. But I don’t need you to talk down to me. I’m going to get Avel, for real this time. Come on.”  
It was as close to civil as she could bear. She knew, intellectually, that Caeldori really did just want everyone to be as good as she was. But some people just weren’t going to be like her, and being reminded of that constantly was just plain irritating.

Caeldori nodded, lips sealed, and took Aurora’s reins, following Sophie down the trail.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When they set up camp that night, Caeldori insisted on arranging a watch.

“You know, Avel and Aurora would just wake us up if there was trouble,” Sophie pointed out, words flat. She was still in a bad mood, and sleep would help, but she also didn’t feel like arguing.

“They both require sleep as well. And standard protocol requires a watch. We can both still get a decent amount of rest, and this way our safety is assured.”

Sophie sighed. “Alright. You can have the first shift, then.”

She pulled out a sleeping mat from her pile of gear and shed her armor as quickly as possible. She was out like a light.

When Caeldori woke her, the moon was halfway down the horizon, the dark sky streaked with light blue.

“All’s clear.” Reported Caeldori, before promptly stripping off her own field clothes. Sophie rose with minimal grumbling, thinking a little wistfully of her bed at home, and how Daddy used to wake her up at around this same time, so he could say goodbye before leaving for his own missions.

She would always accompany him to the edge of town, and she definitely never cried when he left. Never clutched at his legs pathetically and hung on like a leech, either. Simpler times.

The horses were still dozing, so Sophie slumped down against a tree, picking idly at blades of grass. She dropped them into a little pile next to her. _1, 2, 3, 4, …_

The sun had only barely risen when Caeldori got up. There was a good two hours left before Sophie’s watch would technically be over. She frowned. Sleep was important. She didn’t want to get killed because Caeldori got tired and stumbled.

She watched as Caeldori pulled out her naginata and began running through a set of exercises. A few minutes in, she realized that they were the same ones she had been doing yesterday. Did she do this every day, even when she was out on missions?

Sophie… didn’t do anything like that. She trained hard, and trained regularly, but she took breaks. She needed breaks. From the look of it, Sophie wouldn’t be surprised if Caeldori had been doing this before she could walk. It was the kind of skill Sophie fantasized about having. The naginata looked like an extension of her body. If they fought, Sophie would lose.

It was depressing. Sophie went back to her pile of grass.

They both had a quick, cold breakfast, and fed their mounts, before sitting down and pulling out their maps.

“I’m going to be continuing to head north for another couple of days.” Caeldori said, tracing the approximate route.

“Yeah, me too.” Sophie said, a bit uneasily. Caeldori cocked her head, narrowing her eyes.

“Is your mission classified?”

Sophie shook her head.

“Is it perhaps of political importance?”

“You think Queen Corrin gave us the same mission?” Sophie asked, catching on.

“It’s certainly possible, though highly unusual. It seems like a waste of manpower.” There was a beat. “I’m going to be rescuing of Princess Mitama.”

“… Me too.” Caeldori twitched.

“I suppose it’s for the better that we travel together, then. If this is important enough to her to assign the both of us, we should do our best to succeed.” Her voice was strained.

If you asked Sophie, Caeldori alone probably would’ve been enough, but who was she to question Queen Corrin? And so, they set out.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Five hours of complete silence later, Sophie was going to lose it. She had been sulky earlier, she would admit it, but now she was _bored_. She tried desperately to think of a topic her and Caeldori could both talk about wouldn’t immediately devolve into a lecture.

“You know, I think your hair is nice.” she settled on. It was a knight-unrelated topic, and even a compliment. A true one, too.

Caeldori glanced at her, startled. She reflexively withdrew one hand from her reins to grasp a few strands of said hair.

“Thank you.”

There was a moment of silence. Sophie resisted the urge to face-palm.

“Your hair suits you. It’s very appropriate for combat.” Caeldori offered. That was dangerously close to spiraling into an unwanted topic.

“Long hair is very pretty, though. I might grow mine out when I’m older.” Sophie replied. _Please take the bait_ , she prayed. Caeldori’s face lit up.

“I would be glad to offer you any tips on the maintenance needed. Honestly, the hardest part is how long it takes to clean.” _Success!_

“I can imagine! How do you keep it so shiny? Is it the shampoo?”

“It’s all in the conditioner. You see—”

One successful conversation later, Sophie was feeling pretty proud of herself. Caeldori explaining things was almost endearing when it wasn’t condescending. She had no actual intention of ever growing her hair out, but if she did, she knew exactly how she would take care of it. And she had even given Caeldori some tips for moisturizing.

So, of course, something had to go wrong.

Approximately fifteen minutes after their conversation had ended, they were in yet another fight.

It was all Avel’s fault, which admittedly kind of made it Sophie’s fault.

Avel’s ears had pricked up, and Sophie had barely had time to register the sinking feeling in her gut before he bucked her off and ran, right off the path and right into the woods.

He had led them directly to a small campfire, residents apparently settling in for an afternoon meal. And, unfortunately for Sophie and Caeldori, they were residents who happened to possess the occupation of bandits, who very much wanted the gear stowed on Avel’s back.

“I’m going to have _words_ with your horse later,” growled Caeldori, jabbing her naginata right over Sophie’s head as she ducked down to avoid a slash from someone’s sword.

“It’s not like I wanted this to happen either!” Sophie replied as her blade smacked into someone’s hand, slicing off a finger and knocking their weapon onto the ground.

When the dust had cleared, Avel was gone, having decided a scuffle was no place for a horse.

Caeldori pinched her nose. “At least he’s not being stealthy. He’ll be easy enough to track.”

“That’s what _you_ think,” mumbled Sophie. She knew exactly how good Avel was at not being found when he put his mind to it.

Sure enough, it was around midnight when they finally found him, happily munching on some grass by the edge of the very road they had abandoned earlier. He had led them on a merry chase, full of backtracking and thick, scratchy, and occasionally poisonous undergrowth.

“We’ve lost half a day’s worth of travel-time.” Caeldori said harshly. “We’re behind schedule. And we’re going to lose more stopping to get more supplies.”

“There isn’t a set schedule.” Sophie said, just to be contrary. It was a setback that shouldn’t have happened, and she knew it. Avel had, of course, managed to lose some of her gear, and the nearest town wasn’t on their direct path. Isolated castle and all that.

Caeldori was unimpressed. “Maybe you didn’t, but I actually had this planned out. Some of us actually like to think ahead.” Sophie winced. She _had_ thought ahead, but guess what hadn’t helped them!

They set up camp in silence, and Sophie couldn’t help but feel that all her progress from this afternoon was now gone. It had been too optimistic to think they could ever truly be friends.

She took the first watch, deflated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little more rushed and a little less content than I wanted to get through, but hopefully this flows well enough! Constructive criticism is always welcome, and kudos are always appreciated :)


	3. Stumbling

“Are we there yet? Hey, are we there yet? How much further? It seemed closer on my map.”

Caeldori was going to lose it. She rubbed at her temples, for what had to be the tenth time that day alone. Sophie’s voice seemed to pierce right through her skull, and it was going to give her a lovely headache if this kept up.

“How much further?”

“I heard you the first time!” she snapped, trying not to scowl. It was unseemly. Sophie had seemed remorseful last night, after the whole mess with Avel, but she was right back to being unbearably social. It was as if she had just completely forgotten about her mistake yesterday. She didn’t even seem perturbed at Avel. Caeldori had seen her feeding him an apple that morning.

“And, yet, you still didn’t answer me. So, I said it again!” Sophie said cheerfully. Caeldori wondered if she was being this annoying on purpose, or if her patience was just wearing thinner and thinner.

“The town should only be a few miles away. We’ll see the farmland soon.”

The town they had chosen to buy more supplies from was a rural place, like everything on the route to Mitama’s castle. It possessed a small shrine to a minor fertility god, and, appropriately, they specialized in produce. It was mostly exported and was the main source of income for the place. Caeldori hoped that would mean there was enough competition among the villagers for customers that there wouldn’t be any outrageous prices.

Her answer seemed to satisfy Sophie, as she ceased her incessant questioning. And then she began to hum. Caeldori gritted her teeth. So nonchalant. How did she ever expect to improve like this? Everyone knew Sophie wanted to be a knight as good as her father, and despite all her faults, she had made it through basic training without dropping out. Queen Corrin didn’t stand for nepotism, so she had to have merits. Somewhere.

Finally entering the town was a relief, as Sophie became too distracted to bother her further. There was a tiny inn that appeared to just be a shoddily painted barn, but it was somewhere secure to store their horses. The owner was fine with accepting their coin even if they weren’t staying the night, and seemed in awe of Aurora. Pegasi were rarely used outside of the royal army, after all.

They were surprisingly delicate creatures, meaning their upkeep was expensive. They were also quite prideful, and Caeldori shot Aurora a look when she wouldn’t stop preening under the attention of the innkeeper.

Unfortunately, there was no break from Sophie’s company after that. The farmer turned innkeeper had helpfully provided directions to the market, of which there was only one. Caeldori had no need for more supplies, as she had packed well, but Sophie didn’t seem the type to be responsible with money. It would be wasteful, not to mention embarrassing to knights everywhere, if she got swindled by some back-country farmer.

The little farmer’s market was bustling. Most of the shoppers appeared to be villagers, and Caeldori felt distinctly out of place. These were the people that knights dedicated their lives to protecting, and while she was usually passionate about her future duty, right now she just felt sweaty and uncomfortable.

Well, no matter. She wasn’t here to make friends, she was here to find good deals. Sophie, however, did appear to be here to make friends, as she immediately approached an old woman at a small produce stall and began chatting away.

Caeldori scanned the area, looking for easy prey for herself. She had admittedly not trained in the art of bartering, but she figured she knew enough to pull it off. There weren’t many tasks she wasn’t at least adequate at completing. Her father had made sure her education was well-rounded, preparing her for all sorts of dire situations a knight could one day face.

Unfortunately, it seemed like this situation wasn’t covered by that training.

“I know my produce, and the price of these is clearly too high.” she tried, gesturing at some apples. The young girl manning the wagon laughed.

“You ain’t no expert, lady. Yer a city slicker, if I ever saw one.” Bested by a six-year old. Caeldori flushed, quickly muttering an apology and moving on.

“If that’s the lowest price you’ll offer, I shall be forced to take my business elsewhere.” Caeldori said coldly, staring haughtily at the old woman in front of her. All she got was a toothy grin.

“Sorry to hear that, dearie.”

Caeldori turned to go, took one step away. Then another. Paused, just in case. Then another step, and still no response. She sighed, resuming a normal walking place and striding away with what remained of her dignity. With any luck, she hadn’t been recognizable as an agent of Queen Corrin. Hopefully Sophie was also being somewhat discreet. Actually, where was Sophie?

In her haste to test her bartering meddle, she seemed to have lost track of the other girl. It shouldn’t have been so hard to find someone with silver hair in such a small area, even with its over-abundance of the elderly.

To her chagrin, Sophie was at the booth of the old lady Caeldori had just failed to purchase anything from.

“Granny Keiko says your stuff is top notch!” she was saying. The old woman smiled.

“Aye, an’ I’m the only one who sells it here, too.”

Caeldori took that as her cue to gracefully wait for Sophie somewhere else, out of sight.

She would have to add bartering to her list of things to improve her skills at. It rankled her that Sophie had succeeded so effortlessly. It wasn’t that she thought Sophie was inferior to her, it was just, well, Caeldori was supposed to be better than this. You didn’t become a knight if you couldn’t handle something as simple as this.

She frowned, mentally running through where bartering would fit on her current list of skills awaiting polishing. It was item 156. At the rate she was working through them, she’d be dead in the ground long before she ever became a knight. Crossing her arms and leaning against a building, she resolutely _didn’t_ frown.

“I think I’m all ready to go!” Sophie greeted her, a basket swinging on her arm as she approached with a hop in her step.

“Then let’s head back,” she replied curtly, giving the basket of goods the stink-eye. She tore her eyes away. Pouting didn’t befit a knight. She just had to do better in the future, as usual.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Luckily for her, the closer to Mitama’s castle they got, the less trouble there was. It was remote enough that there weren’t bandits around every corner. Sophie’s horse seemed to have taken pity on them. Caeldori still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, but she had decided he wasn’t enemy number one. She even gave him a pat one morning.

She was less fond of his owner. Sophie had tried to strike up conversation again, but Caeldori had decided she needed to stay professional. She gave one word response as to not be rude, but kept her distance (not that it deterred Sophie, but still, it was the principle).

Caeldori raised a hand to her eyebrows and squinted into the distance.

“I believe I see the castle.” she reported.

Sophie immediately stood up in her stirrups, windmilling her arms to catch her balance when she predictably began to tilt forwards. Caeldori tried to hide a snicker. _Professionalism_ , she reminded herself.

“I think I see it too!” she said, voice a barely contained whisper.

Caeldori gave her a strange look. “There’s no need to whisper. We’re still a few miles away. It will be wisest for us to camp nearby for the day and do scouting tonight so that we can come up with a plan. Then tomorrow we can stage the rescue.”

Sophie sat back down in her saddle, frowning. “Or we just go in tonight. The inside should be lit, anyways. I don’t want to leave that poor girl in there any longer than necessary.”

“There’ll be a dragon. We can’t just charge in, especially not after a day of traveling.”

“I didn’t say we wouldn’t still scout! We should just execute whatever plan we come up with tonight. There’s no point in waiting. It’s just cruel.”

Caeldori wrinkled her nose. “It’s just one extra night. Her conditions are far from inhumane. The point was isolation, not torture. If we die by recklessly attacking a dragon, she’ll just end up never getting to leave.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not even tired. Riding only takes so much energy. Weren’t you the one saying we shouldn’t waste any time?” Sophie argued, punctuating her statements with hand gestures.

Caeldori huffed. “Being properly prepared isn’t ‘wasting’ time. But we’ll see. If things look bad, we can charge in.” she said, mostly just to placate Sophie. There would be no need for anything that drastic. A dragon wouldn’t betray its contract, and if someone else had managed to kill the dragon, then there was nothing they can do. An enemy of that caliber would easily beat them, and would have already made off with the princess if they had beaten them there. Of course, there shouldn’t be any enemy to do that, unless Azama had caught wind of Queen Corrin’s plan.

Of course, she should have known that Sophie would never listen to her. Once they were close enough, they both slid off their mounts and crept forwards. The sun had fallen, but light was pouring from the windows of the castle, bright enough that it was difficult to see what was inside.

“Suspicious.” she noted, narrowing her eyes. “It must be enchanted.”

Magic wasn’t something she was familiar with, as it was rather uncommon. Priests were known to dabble in magic for exorcisms and healing, so it was possible that Azama had set up extra layers of protection for his daughter.

Sophie was unfettered. “We’ll just have to look in through the door, then.”

She dashed out of Caeldori’s reach just as she reached out a hand to grab at the back of her shirt. Caeldori pursed her lips and took a brief moment to sigh and contemplate her life choices before following Sophie.

Sophie had the door open just a crack, and was peering through it with a determined face, clearly deep in thought. She waved a hand, gesturing for Caeldori to come closer.

She approached with hesitation, using her height to lean over Sophie’s head and see whatever had her flummoxed.

“Should we go in?” whispered Sophie. The inside of the palace was absolutely empty, no signs of a dragon anywhere. There was also no sign of a scuffle with a dragon, hopefully meaning Mitama hadn’t been kidnapped. The torches on the walls were lit, though, and there were no cobwebs or gathered dust.

Caeldori narrowed her eyes and drew her naginata.

“I’ll go first.”

Sophie rolled her eyes, pulling out her own weapon.

“As if! We can go in at the same time.”

Arguing would be a waste, as Caeldori had yet to see Sophie concede in an argument.

“On three, then.”

With what was quite frankly startling synchrony, they kicked in the double doors of the palace and stormed in, ready for the worst.

The pristine white of the walls immediately dropped away, and the floor dropped away from under their feet.

“Of course it’s magic!” groaned Sophie as they fell. They hit the new ground rolling, landing with their weapons at the ready.

The new chamber was made of dark stone, with demonic faces carved into the walls on all sides. Their mouths were open, presumably meant to be screeching, and flames burned within them. There were no windows to be seen, and there was a pile of charred bones in one corner.

Worst of all, before them stood a towering red dragon, almost twice the size of the last dragon they had faced. Around its neck was a golden amulet, engraved with priestly symbols, a sign of its contract with Azama.

Caeldori grimaced. “We need to find a way out of here. I can keep it distracted.” She stood a better chance of not dying, after all.

Sophie’s eyes were focused, her gaze unwaveringly fixed on the dragon.

“No, let me handle him.”

“Because last time that went _so_ well—”

She was cut off as they were both forced to leap aside when fire spouted from hidden holes in the ground, right where they were standing.

“Just trust me on this!”

Caeldori didn’t have much of a choice, and she had ended up near a wall anyways. She ran her hand across it, and, as expected, it was merely coarse stone.

“Watch out!”

So much for that plan, then. The room wasn’t big enough for her to be properly out of the line of fire, and so into the fray she went.

The dragon was brutal and unyielding in its strikes, and seemed unaffected by anything they did to it. It just kept going, shrugging off everything they tried, which wasn’t unexpected of a dragon.

She gritted her teeth.

“Sophie, I don’t think we’re going to win this. We need to focus on finding, or somehow creating, an escape route.”

Sophie simply smiled. “Oh, I think we’re doing just fine.”

The other girl suddenly stopped moving, placing her hands on her hips.

“I know you’re not real, you big bully!”

The dragon was unimpressed, lunging forward once more.

Sophie reacted moments before she would’ve been skewered, ducking beneath its neck and lashing out at the dragon’s amulet. Surprisingly, her sword slid through the thick metal chain like a hot knife through butter. It hit the ground with a clatter, and the dragon disappeared.

The room reverted back to the initial white one, now looking a great deal more dusty.

“So, it was illusion magic after all,” she said, relaxing her tense muscles and taking a second to wipe some of the sweat from her face.

“Yup!” Sophie grinned proudly, bending over to scoop up the amulet. “Linked to this thing. That whole encounter was just too fishy.”

Caeldori furrowed her brow. “If that was the main defense mechanism, then what’s been driving off any intruders? If the dragon couldn’t actually harm them.”

Sophie shrugged. “Maybe if you tried to run it’d let you? Or you’d faint with fright and wake up outside? Or maybe you’d just stay in there and starve. Does it really matter?”

“It does if the princess is missing.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “We haven’t even looked for her yet! Calm down. She’s probably up there.” She pointed to a spiral staircase that hadn’t been there before.

Caeldori simply nodded. She definitely would’ve seen those stairs herself in just a second. She was just a little disoriented still, as most people would be. The amulet in Sophie’s hands didn’t look magical. What had been suspicious about it?

“My gut told me something was wrong.” Sophie confessed, spinning it idly around on one finger. “And the dragon’s attacks had a distinct pattern. No normal creature would do that so robotically.”

Caeldori had, of course, been noting the dragon’s attacks. Wasn’t it normal to do moves in a specific order? Certain attacks would cause enemies to be in a vulnerable position for the next attack. It was something she did often.

She fell silent as they ascended the staircase, on guard for any other unforeseen obstacles. Fortunately, there was no sign of any tripwires or pressure plates. The staircase led to a long, narrow corridor, with a number of doors lining the hall. It was dimly lit, with candleholders lining the top edges of the walls. At the end of it was a large double door, much more ornate than any of the others. It was lined with gold and was painted with abstract scenes that Caeldori couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Azama sure has some weird tastes,” muttered Sophie. Caeldori couldn’t help but agree.

Their gazes locked as they finished taking in their surroundings.

“The big fancy door first?”

“Well—”

“It’s midnight! She’s going to be in the bedroom!”

“Actually, I believe it’s only about nine.” Caeldori had an excellent internal clock. “She could be in any of these rooms. Standard procedure dictates we methodically go through the other rooms. Even if she’s not inside, it’s still good scouting and will give us an idea of the internal layout of the building.”

“We don’t need to know the internal layout. We’re leaving as soon as we find her. We’d just be wasting our time.”

“There’s not a time lime limit to this, especially since now we know no one else is going to find the princess first. We’d hear them come in.”

“But it’s a waste of energy! It’s just stupid!”

“So was charging in here instead of resting overnight.”

“Oh, so since we did my stupid plan now we have to do yours?”

“I’m just saying that you should at least listen to me half the time, since I extended the same courtesy to you, regardless of the merits of your ideas.”

“It’s not about taking turns! It’s about following the best course of action.”

“Which is checking out all the rooms in order.”

“Which is going straight to what is _clearly_ the main room!"

“I—”

And then the door at the end of the hallway slammed open, hitting the wall so hard that the walls shuddered. Sophie and Caeldori jumped, heads whipping towards the disturbance. Light was bursting from the open room, much brighter than the corridor was. They winced, and when the light faded they could make out a figure in the doorway.

She was only about half as tall as the door, and wearing only a sleeping robe. Bright blue hair framed her face, sticking out in all directions, clearly unbrushed. And on her face was a scowl that would scare even the bravest knights.

“My slumber disturbed / Before me two imbeciles / Who should I smite first?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Mitama enters! Hopefully I can get back on track with more regular updates for this (I'm back in school but it gives me a routine, so....). As always, comments/kudos are appreciated!


End file.
